every time i miss (which, thankfully is only 3 times ever) i NEVER get off a second shot.

i tend to just sit there, jaw dropped, blank stare... waiting for the bird that I KNOW IS DEAD to keel over. i've had toms actually laugh at me for missing them at 20 to 30 yards!


the last big un i missed(last fall), i shot at him, didnt even ruffle his feathers at 30 yds, and he stood there looking at me. i didnt even THINK about shooting again, i just sat there waiting for him to flop. after a while , i began to question whether i even shot or not!

mean while, he walks away.

am i alone with this affliction, or what?
i think its because i have taken many birds, and my gun is so deadly , that it's in my head that I COULDNT POSSIBLY MISS, and my brain just shuts down after the shot.

whaddaya think?



-moose

if you hunt long enough ...your gonna miss bottom line ive got 2 birds 1st one i knocked clean lik 40 smthing yrds this was about fifty and i missed then im was like $#!% click click boom about 60 yds got him only a jake tho[:@] ithought it was a long beard but i think my problem is thinking of already killing the bird and haveing every one at camp say good job tim ..like killing the bird with out shooting ytet

I've missed 2 over the years...

i know what you mean,youre in shock, numb, lol..... i only missed 2 times and both times i redeemed myself with a second shot, getting a totally different bird......for some odd reason i have been blessed...

LOTS of times!!!

There's nothing more humbling and PAINFUL....

A few times, I was able to get him on the 2nd shot with my 10 s/s.

Most misses were due to the fact that "he was too close and I had a poor sight picture"

Lesson learned: DON'T pull that trigger 'til you satisy ALL the requirements for a clean kill....There's nothing wrong with passing up the shot and waiting 'til the next day if necessary....he'll still be there if you don't scare him into the next county.

Yes I have missed. Right after I read an article about missing turkeys. I laughed and said there is NO WAY I could EVER miss a turkey. It is just too easy. Next morning the turkey Gods put a real nice Tom in front of me about 30 yards out and I missed him clean. Still haunts me to this day.

This year, biggest Tom I've ever seen, 10-15 ft. away. Called, both hen and Tom responded. Hen came by first, ready to cleanup on that rival hen. Tom walked out of heavy cover 15 sec behind the hen. Lining up on him as he walked, I shot and he was still standing there, untouched. I couldn't believe my eyes! Didn't even think about shooting again! Watched him run away! I then discover that about 6 inches in front of my barrel is a 2 1/2 - 3" tree with a perfectly round circle full of buck shot. I was concentrating so hard on the Tom that I missed seeing the tree. That Tom had an Angel with him that day! That's Turkey Hunting!

third day of 2005 nh season I have a hen cluckinng like crazy and she walks by me within 3 feet. Toms following right in her tracks. I'm thinking this is going to be a piece of cake. Tom stops about 15 yards out and hen is still cluckiing ,something is up so he starts to turn away stops,perfect I shoot he runs about 10 feet and is wondering what just happend. I break open my encore dig a shell out of my pocket and shoot again. I missed twice,I think I shot right over Toms head.

I missed on the last day, about 5 years ago. Had been working this one property, where I had harvested a monster (~25#, 1.5" spurs, 11" beard), with a bigger bird still active and thumping butt.

Last morning he flew off the roost to a slew of hens. I couldn't get him to gobble at anything, so I decided to blow off a few rounds into a nearby stump (private land, exclusive permission). Well, sure enough, that fired him up. I waited about 5 minutes, then cutted & purred my brain out for 5 mins straight, to which he finally committed. He came in strutting and gobbling the entire distance, about 400 yards, in approximately 2 minutes.

Lined him up for an easy 20 yard shot...only to watch the dirt fly and him run back to his hens. He stood out in that field for another 30 minutes gobbling his fool head off, while I sat and contemplated the problem...

Seems that when I fired off the first two rounds, I extinguished my last Winchester #6 shell. My backup was a Federal #4. Later that day, after I pieced together the puzzle, I test patterned the Federals...2 feet low at 10 yards... I never had a chance[>:]

I missed two this year, one I just choked, the other, I missed the yardage terribly.....I'm like you, I'm not looking for a second shot, I just sit there, mutter a few explicitives to myself and head back to the truck.